Sermon Tone Analysis

Pre-Service

Instrumental music playing quietly

Procession – (Line up at 5:25pm)

5:30pm SONG – Concerning Hobbits (on repeat)

Mothers enter to light the individual candles for Unity candle display.

Lighters will be on the table.

Mothers are then seated.

Pastor and Groom enter from stage entrance.

Wedding party enters in pairs ending with Maid of Honor and Best man.

Ring Bearers and flower girls enter.

Everyone instructed to rise.

SONG – Stairway to Heaven

Father escorts Bride to Altar.

Giving of the Bride

Who gives this woman to be married to this man today?

Father’s response – Her mother and I

Prayer

Charge

We are gathered here today in the sight of God and in the presence of this company to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony.

Travis and Haley, in a moment you will recite vows, exchange rings, and begin this new and exciting chapter in your lives.

Your family takes the next and valuable step of unity.

Unity is not to be mistaken for sameness.

Unity is a beautiful combination of the two individuals coming together.

It is not the disappearance of individual traits, but rather the blending of strengths and weaknesses.

Gary Smalley points out in his book, “One Flame” that the coming together of the bride and groom is very similar to the mixing of colors.

If the groom is, let’s say blue and the bride is the color yellow, when the two come together they make a new color altogether known as green.

Green will never be a possibility UNLESS the two individual colors come together to make one.

Green shares the attributes of both colors, not one over the other.

It’s a perfect image of true unity.

In marriage, you are always stronger together than you ever were apart.

In this unity you will find a new strength, a new endurance as sameness is not mistaken for oneness.

And with God as your foundation and the Holy Spirit as your guide, I believe this journey you are about to embark upon will be one of lifelong joy and happiness.

The Bible teaches us that marriage is a holy institution, established in heaven by the divine wisdom and kindness of God, who said in Genesis 2:18 “It is not good for the man to be alone.

I will make a helper suitable for him.”

In creation, Adam, the man, was first formed, then the woman, Eve, say the scriptures, that the woman might be for the man, setting forth the humility, modesty, and gentleness that should characterize her kind.

Yet man, in being made last of all of God’s creatures, was set forth as the best and most excellent of all of God’s creative works.

So Eve’s being made after Adam and out of him sets an honor upon the woman as being the glory of man.

If the man is the head, she is the crown – a crown to her husband.

The man was dust refined, but the woman was doubly refined – one step further from the earth.

In being created from man, or out of man, she was not out of his head to dominate, or to be over him, nor out of his feet to be under him or trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, from under his arm to be protected by him, and near to his heart to be loved.

Ephesians 5:22 reads Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.

23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.

24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Verse 31 reads “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

Haley, the Word is clear.

God has called you to submit to Travis in all your days.

However, Travis, the Word is also clear in stating that you are to love in a manner worthy of such submission.

Husbands are to love their wives as Christ has loved the church.

Jesus was willing to lay down his life for all mankind.

He was compelled by love to hang on the cross so that we could be set free from all sin.

This kind of love, this agape or unconditional love is the same kind of love the scriptures say we should have for our wives.

Today, as you begin this life together no longer as individuals, but as one, I charge you Travis, to love Haley as Christ loved the church.

Make God the number one priority in your home.

Lead Haley and your family with His love and His care.

Allow God to guide you and to direct your steps.

Haley, I charge you to love and uphold your husband.

I charge you to trust in his direction as he follows the guiding of the Lord.

Remain at his side through all things, and always allow love to prevail.

Marriage is the ultimate picture of completion.

The two becoming one flesh is not the erasing of individual personalities, but the joining of each other’s strengths and weaknesses making the bride and groom stronger together than they are apart.

The two complement each other and complete each other.

Today, we see before us not only the joining of the bride and groom, but the creation of a brand-new family unit.

Who I’m speaking of are the children standing with us here today.

They are never to be viewed as tag-alongs or baggage, but ALWAYS to be seen as blessings in this family.

Children are truly a blessing from the Lord and He has certainly blessed you two with amazing kids!

Tonight, before making the commitment to each other as husband and wife, Travis and Haley, will you commit to these kids your love, support and devotion?

Haley, before you stand these children: Levi, Kasch, and Malachi.

Do you commit to love and uphold them… to care for them and provide for them?

Will you commit to training them up in the ways of the Lord and to nurture them as only a mother can?

“I do”

Travis, before you stand these children: Levi, Kasch, and Malachi.

Do you commit to love and uphold them… to care and to provide for them?

Will you commit to training them in the ways of the Lord and to protect them as the father and head of this household?

“I do”

Friends and family, I charge you and ask will you help uphold this new family with your prayers, encouragement and support as they embark on this new journey no longer as friends, but as family unit brought together by the presence and power of God?

“I do”

At this time, Travis and Haley have gifts to given to the children – tokens of their love and commitment symbolling their promise to love and uphold them, and to raise them up in the ways of the Lord.

SONG – All you Need is Love

Now, after committing your devotion to the family it is time to declare your devotion to each other.

Travis, do you take Haley to be your wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony?

Will you love her, comfort her, honor her, and keep her in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?

I Do

Haley, do you take Travis to be your wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony?

Will you love him, comfort him, honor him, and keep him in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?

I Do

Vows

At this time, if you would please face each other and take one another by the hands.

Travis, would you recite these vows after me: I Travis… take you Haley… to be my wedded wife… to have and to hold… from this day forward… for better for worse… for richer poorer… in sickness and in health… to love and to cherish… for as long as we both shall live.

Haley, would you recite these vows after me: I Haley… take you Travis… to be my wedded husband… to have and to hold… from this day forward… for better for worse… for richer for poorer… in sickness and in health… to love and to cherish… for as long as we both shall live.

Rings

Travis, what token do you have to give to Haley as a symbol of your commitment and love?

Travis – I Have this ring.

(Travis receives the ring from Best Man).

Haley, What token do you have to give to Travis as a symbol of your commitment and love?

Haley – I have this ring.

(Haley receives the ring from Maid of Honor).

The circle is the emblem of eternity.

They are a symbol of strength and integrity, and will last a lifetime.

May your commitment to one another be as strong and everlasting as the material found within these rings.